7th Sea: Second Edition Core Rulebook

7th Sea is a tabletop roleplaying game of swashbuckling and intrigue, exploration and adventure, taking place on the continent of Theah, a land of magic and mystery inspired by our own Europe. Players take the roles of heroes thrown into global conspiracies and sinister plots, exploring ancient ruins of a race long vanished and protecting the rightful kings and queens of Theah from murderous villains.

Save the Queen of Avalon from treacherous blackmail!

Thwart a dastardly assassination attempt on the Cardinal of Castille!

Raid the villainous fleets of Vodacce Merchant Princes!

Free the Prince of the Sarmatian Commonwealth from a mysterious curse!

Make decisions that alter the very course of Thean history!

In 7th Sea, you are a Hero, an icon of Theah ready to live and die for causes that matter. You bravely take on a dozen thugs with swords, knives and guns all on your own. You are the trusted knight, a loyal bodyguard or even an adventuring queen herself.

In other words—you are d’Artagnan, Milady de Winter, the Dread Pirate Roberts, Jack Sparrow, Julie d’Aubigney, and the Scarlet Pimpernel all rolled up in one!

This is a game of high adventure, mystery and action. This is a game of intrigue and romance.

Additional information

8 reviews for 7th Sea: Second Edition Core Rulebook

Artwork is beautiful. Well done book. Great game. Need published adventures though.
I’m so glad I backed this on kickstarter.
I really can’t wait for the other books.

5 out of 5

Eric-John Tate–November 24, 2016

A high adventure awaits any who open this tome. Intuitive game mechanics coupled with an all-for-one and one-for-all joint storytelling and the dashing flair of the Restoration Period, 7th Sea second edition allows players to make their favorite swashbuckling heroes and go on adventures even the Dread Pirate Roberts would not dream.

4 out of 5

Brokenbokken–December 5, 2016

Expectations: Same world as 1st Edition; New rules but still as simple as 1st Edition; Added Content; Great artwork; Well written.
What I : Different world (Some names and places have been kept, but essentially a new world); New Rules are rather simple and focus on character development over stat development, however, maybe too simplistic and left to the whims of the players; Interesting new content including the revamped sword schools, sorcery, and new nation; Beautiful artwork. Beyond my expectations; The flavor text and some rules are well written. Even witty. The index is lacking (hard to find stuff using it) and some rules (e.g., “leveling” and combat) are odd. But I understand why they are there and after reading it a few times and watching a few Erroll Flynn flicks, fits more with the swashbuckle theme.

I’m glad I Kickstarted this. I am really looking forward to the new books.

5 out of 5

Jim Springer–December 27, 2016

The Black cover book is not only a beautiful piece of art, a well written rpg, and setting but a great conversation piece. I’ve brought it to many game sessions and Cons and have enjoyed seeing folks pic it up ohhh and ahhh over it. John and his team have come out with a great new addition to the 7th seas saga and I’m glad I got my copy!

5 out of 5

Luis Olmeda–January 17, 2017

A great game, with fresh and intuitive rules, an amazing new-old Théah, and the artwork is awesome. Well done JWP! I can’t wait for the other books, with new rules and plot backgrounds.
Finally I’m happy I backed this game. But we just need some adventures, please!!!

I’m so glad I backed this on kickstarter.
I really can’t wait for the other books.

3 out of 5

GMLovlie–January 20, 2017

Having played a lot of 7th 1st edition during my college days, I was really excited about the idea of a 2nd edition of this game. The first edition had its flaws, certainly (but it was wicked awesome fun!), and it had been quite some time since anything new had been published (ignoring d20 productions,) so a new edition made sense in more than just one way.

The world changes I mostly like – granted I haven’t been able to cross-check and make note of all the big (and small) changes, but it certainly feels a bit different, yet it also feels the same. New nations in Théah, and finally plans for more than a euro-centric game world was very welcoming. Suddenly the world felt larger, more real. And the art. The Art. The art is beautiful and depicts the genre and style of game this is designed to be in a very good way.

Now, what I am disappointed with is the Risks and the game mechanics generally. It seems this game tries make into a game, the exercise of joint storytelling… without really making it a game. My background is from more crunchy games sure, but I can appreciate simplifications, narrative focus and story driven games tremendously. Yet this game takes it to a level that feel … is almost pointless. That is to say, it seems almost pointless to play it as a game.

Granted, I haven’t played it a lot, I have read it several times and done test-runs with players unfamiliar with the system. I’m open to the idea that the game-side of this more or less codified storytelling exercise, may work better and become clearer in time, but I must say that so far I’ve been disappointed.

I’m still looking forward to get more PDFs and the GM screen and the rest of the booty, some of that may alleviate my concerns and change my experience, but at the moment I can’t justify giving this game more than 3 stars, as the mechanics seems to be put in as an after-thought to retain the “game” part in roleplaying game, instead of going all the way towards a joint loosely structured storytelling exercise…

So, what is it that I have issue with, more specifically? The ways to resolve challenges, or risks, are … murky and vague, the rules are not clear and concise enough, and the examples are bland and too simple compared to how complex situations and encounters usually are in RPGs. The writing feels rushed, and at times so does the idea behind the mechanics. This may seem unfair, but the extent to which these things are clearly explained and described, it seems little (or at least not enough) effort has gone into the writing, for someone not on the “inside” of what this game is supposed to be. I’m not saying it’s esoteric.

The lack of detailed mechanics is design, so I should consider it a feature not a flaw I know that, but I must admit I find parts of the character development and creation to be … lacking and uninteresting. While not imperative for a good game, mechanical tinkering and details are part of most games to some degree, but this game solves it in sweeping gestures that feel, again, rushed. I get that the focus is on stories, characters, experiences, the world, the events, intrigue et cetera ad nauseam, and not gaming the system and min-maxing. Yet, the games solution does little to reinforce and support its focus in mechanical and (to me) interesting ways. Which in turn means the game (potentially) limits its scope and audience, more so than the 1st edition. At least for more than one-shots, or very short stories. The long campaign seems like a ridiculous idea in this game – but I know that I may be, probably is, wrong about that last part.

I know it may be considered a feature and not a bug, but there is no equipment chapter, there is basically no rules but this one: The story is sacrosanct. And may any notion of mechanic consistency get lost in the forest. Yeah, hyperbolic sentence is hyperbolic.

So, character development becomes, one-dimensional. I know, that’s like cursing. Bear with me. The stories, the personality, the history of the character won’t (necessarily) be one-dimensional, arguably it needs a lot more work and effort and can be very enriching. But the side that a lot of players use as the entry-point into this hobby as been all but removed. Why do I want to play a pirate game where there is no or little use for treasure (i.e. gear, equipment, weapons,) where my characters stats, skills and abilities are put in, seemingly, as an after-thought. Certainly they’re not inconsequential, but I can basically use the skills for anything I see fit (almost), to solve any situation… almost.

I know a lot of the answer to that question, and I know I’d like to play a bunch of different characters in this game, but I fear there is little in it that will make me want to stay, little beyond “pirate” that would endear it to new players. And “pirate” isn’t enough in the long run.

With all that said, I’m positive about the game and the continued development of it. We need 7th Sea, just like we need Legend of the Five Rings (and Burning Sands). These are important quantities and institutions in this hobby. I will continue to support, and try to play, this game, because the idea is simply great! An alternate version of our world (basically,) with a familiar, but different history, similar, but different legends. It’s a stroke of genius, if I may say so, this world that Mr. Wick has invented.

So, my hope is now mainly that a compendium will be developed, that adds a tad more crunch and mechanical detail to the game. But I’m not holding my breath.

5 out of 5

Walter(verified owner)–March 2, 2017

I loved the first edition even if I didn’t get to play it as much as I would have liked. While there are some things I liked better in the first edition, I love that the second edition is more streamlined and FATE like. It’s easy to pick up and introduce players into the system and just get them playing. If you’re coming from a system like Pathfinder or D&D 5E, it is a vast departure from them, but it’s a VERY welcome change. The books (I ordered both the Limited Edition and the regular edition) are beautiful and draw a lot of attention.

5 out of 5

Colin Braddock–May 5, 2017

I first ran 7th Sea back in 2000 when I lived in Bristol. Our Deadlands campaign had wound down, and we were all eager to sink our teeth into something every bit as epic. At the time, I was watching ‘The Princess Bride’ with a friend, and she said that she wished there was something like that in a roleplaying game. That was when I remembered seeing 7th Sea at a local game store. I bought the two core books, devoured the rules over a weekend, we created characters, and set to playing.
None of us could have anticipated what happened next.
The adventures of the Contessa De Santa Germagna, Devlin Calico (later Francis Cortez), and Mad Patrick O’Dowd (later Lady Patricia O’Dowd…fae curses are the WORST) became the stuff of legend in the local gaming community. For eighteen months, we played, sometimes twice a week, and to quote Robin Williams, ‘hearts soared, women swooned and gods were created’. I hadn’t run a campaign like it before, and haven’t since. The final session, the death of Francis Cortez , had us all in tears. His player called 7th Sea ‘The Beautiful Game’, and none of us disagreed with her. In short, 7th Sea was the game that reignited my passion for a hobby that I was on the verge of quitting only a year before.
Flash-forward 17 years. My love of roleplaying was in the doldrums again, until a friend linked details of the 2nd edition kickstarter to me on Facebook, with the quote ‘Just sayin’…’ I was onboard immediately, excited to see how Theah and her people had changed over the years.
I am not disappointed. 7th Sea remains every bit the epic it ever was, only now it’s faster, more player-friendly and somehow, more exciting than ever before. GMing is a breeze, action-packed scenes of daring and adventure are a snap to create and characters are truly heroes straight out of the gate. This is 7th Sea for a new generation, but we of the old guard have no reason to be disappointed. Thank you John Wick. I am in love with gaming again. One for all…and all for one.